Spraying process



y 1952 N. B. JONES 2,598,391

SPRAYING PROCESS Filed NOV. 19, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET l IN VEN TOR. /V0/"/ 77 cm 5. Jones AT TOR N YS May 27, 1952 N. B. JONES SPRAYING PROCESS 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1948 INVENTOR. Norma/7 5 Jones 2 AQTOREYS E Patented May 27, 1952 UNITED STATES PA TENT OFF] CE;

SPRAYING PROiJE'SS Norman-B: Jones; Toledo, Ohio, assignor to The Toledo; Plate & Window Glass Company, To led'o, Ohio, a corporation of'Ohio.

Application November 19, 19%, SerialNo. 601,986. 3 Claims;- (01. li t-35) This invention relates. to the manufacture of mirrors-andin particular to'an' automatic process and apparatus for'silveringmirrors;

The ordinary method for. the preparation of mirrors, particularly mirrors. employingmetallic silver as a reflecting surface, includes thexsteps of applying a solution containing a salt of the' metal and a reducing solution to the surface and allowingthe' solutions to react toxprecipitatethe;

metal as a coating on the surface; While, other methods, such as vacuum distillation or cathodes sputtering; are available for. the manufactured mirrors the precipitationlofi'met'al from solution is the only method enjcyhigjwide spread commercialusa'ge;

The majority of mirrors manufactured commercially employ silver as the refiectingmetal. In the silveringof these mirrors, solutions one containing alcomplex' saltlof silver such as silver ammonium nitrate and another solution containing a reducing agentwhichi may be sugar, formaldehyde, glyoxal or a hydrazine salt, aremixed as they are applied to the surface of the.-g1ass so that the silver precipitated from. thetmixedtsolue tionswmay adhere to the glass surface; The. solutions have been applied by pouringprocessesin.

which a thin film of solution is allowed. to drip or how ontothe' surface to besilvered'as the glass is carried along on a conveyor. In another process the solutions are sprayed from special spray guns so that the sprays intermixas. they strike the surface to be silveredi Thespraying process has normally been carried out by hand-so that the operatorimayrepeatedly go over the surface to be silvered until, by inspection he is satisfied that each area has receivedian adequate amount,

of silver.

One difiiculty that is experienced with any silvei'ing method is that thereactingsolu-tions, in addition tothe desired. silver deposit, produce a sludge or mud that must .be removed-at a later stage in the operation and that oftenleaves defects visible from the front of. the mirror. These defects may be inthenatureof pinholessmall-areas where the sludge,haspreventedsthe deposition of a silver coating-or they may belin the nature of streaks where the sludge has run across the surface being .,si1vered andlhasprevented a uniform deposition of. silver.- Another disadvantageis that 'a'substantial amount of the silver as it is" precipitated. from the solution is caught in the sludgeormud and never reaches the surfac'eto be silvered.

The'del'eterious efiect of the sludge also shows up in other ways. For example, if the fringe" thickness'. By operating in this manner the} operator avoids the difficulties-usi-Ially'associated with the rebound or spattero-f fringefromthe spray guns-.-

The principal object of this inventionistdprovide' a process and equipmentfor automatica y spraying solutions upon a surface and controlli g the action: of such sprays to'p're'v'en-t contain-ima tion of the surface by spatter or fringespray:

from the'spraying: equipment Another: object:of thainvention is I to providespray equipment. which} by; its-z orientation with respect to the-surface;beingcisprayedy effectively? prevents contamination of; the" surfacerpriorr' to: the'application of thesprayed'material;

A' still further obj ect of the invention is-zto pro, vide aprocess'for-silvering of mirrors-in which processthe-"mirrors are carried! on: a: conveyor: extending through a; sil-veringf booth-and: in which-- silvering: solutions: are sprayed: u-pon the-mirrors in a direction such that the force of the spraytends to drive the residue of the: solution-onto previously sprayed areasat the same time that spatter. fromlthev spray is directed away'from. theclean'ed surfaces to be silvered;

An ancillary object ottheinvention is mo ar.- range the ventilating system for. the spray booth soithat'the greater portionofi the air. exhausted. from. the booth is taken from pointsflaround.

the periphery of'the .boothlinvtheoregion. gener ally between a plane through. thelmirrorsibeingt sprayed and the floor'of. thebooth;

More specifier objects ancladvantages are apparent from the following. descriptionofthedmproved method and apparatusforsprayingsilver-- ing' solutions on glass surfaces: inhthesproduction of mirrors.

According l to the. invention l the articles, .tobe.

coated, usually in the,io'rmlof flatlglass sheetse to'be silvered, are carried on a conveyor that extends through a spraying booth in which automatically operated spraying equipment applies the solutions that react to form the desired coating. The spray guns from which the solutions are sprayed are mounted on a carriage that is reciprocated along a path above and parallel to the surface of the conveyor and generally transverse thereof. In order that none of the spatter or mist from the spray shall collect on the clean surface ahead of the complete spraying of such surface the spray is directed in the direction of travel of the conveyor so that the spray strikes the surfaces of the article at an oblique angle tending to drive any residue of material onto previously sprayed areas as well as to carry any rebounding or spattering spray in the direction of conveyor travel and away from the clean unsprayed area. The dimensions of the spray pattern in the direction of travel of the conveyor is several times greater than the advance of the conveyor occurring during each traverse of the spray gun carriage whereby the film is built up through the successive application of several layers of material as each spray pattern overlaps the previously sprayed area.

After the sprayed solutions have had time to react and deposit the metal the conveyor carries the articles through a washing station in which jets of water are directed obliquely toward the oncoming conveyor in a direction tending to drive the residue of material towards the edges of the conveyor. Following the washing station the conveyor enters a drying station in which jets of air, traveling at high velocity, sweep all traces of wash water from the glass and leave it dried ready for the reception of a sprayed backing or protective coat.

The important feature in this process and equipment is the directing of the sprayed material in a direction such that the residue from the solutions is swept away from the area in which the metal is being precipitated onto the surface as well as away from any clean surfaces yet to be sprayed. Further, the elimination of any back spattering avoids the necessity of quickly covering the whole area of the article with a thin film of spray before successive layers are added. This improved process and equipment provides precise control of the solutions being applied to the glass or other article and thus permits the economical production of very high quality deposited films, such as silver films for mirrors in which the film or coating is extremely thin but very uniform in thickness and in which a minimum of materials is employed in producing the film.

Since it is commercially impractical to load the conveyor tightly enough to prevent any sprayed material from passing between the sheets of glass or other articles and since any such material driven therethrough may lodge on the under surface of the glass or article, the invention contemplates ventilating the spray booth by exhausting air at points around the periphery and at elevations included between the floor of the booth and the level of the upper surface of the conveyor carrying the articles to be sprayed. By extracting the air from the booth in this region the rebound materials from the surface of the glass are drawn towards the sides of the conveyor while the spray material passing between the pieces of glass or articles on the conveyor are drawn towards the sides of the booth rather than by allowing it to expand and through 4 the efiect of eddies strike the under surface of the articles.

Through the combined effect of these improvements it is possible to silver the piece of glass with a very uniform high reflection coating while using a minimum of materials and practically no labor outside of merely loading the glass onto the conveyor and removing the finished product therefrom.

Equipment embodying the invention and which may be operated to carry out the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure I is a plan view, schematic in nature, showing the general arrangement of the conveyor, spray booth, washing station, and drying station.

Figure II is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the general arrangement of the conveyor, spraying and washing equipment.

Figure III is an enlarged detail showing the general arrangement of the spray patterns with respect to the conveyor whereby undesired scattering of spray is avoided.

Figure IV is an end elevation, showing the relationship and orientation of the spray patterns from the spray guns.

Figure V is an enlarged horizontal section taken through the drying nozzle showing its relationship with respect to the direction of travel of the conveyor.

These specific figures and the accompanying description are intended merely to illustrate the invention but not to limit its scope.

The improved equipment for carrying out the invention includes a conveyor I that extends from a loading station 2 through a spray booth 3, a washing station 4, and a drying station 5. Glass sheets 5 to be silvered are loaded on the conveyor I at the loading station 2 and after passing through the spray booth, washing station, and drying station are transferred automatically from a discharge end I of the conveyor I to another conveyor 8 that carries the glass through a painting booth where a backing coating is applied over the silver to protect the silver against oxidation or other damage.

The conveyor I in an actual installation is approximately six feet in width and is composed of a plurality of V-belts spaced on six inch centers.

The conveyor 8 is similarly constructed and by using a common pulley between the conveyors is effectively made a continuation of the first conveyor. Thus, there is no difficulty whatsoever in transferring the glass sheets from the first to the second conveyor. The open construction of the conveyor afforded by the V- belts reduces the amount of the surface of a carried article that is contacted by the conveyor thus minimizing the possible contamination of the under surface of the glass because of foreign materials that may be on the conveyor belt.

In the preparation of glass for use as a mirror, particularly a mirror of good qualit the glass is polished and carefully cleaned to remove all traces of foreign material as well as minute scratches or other surface blemishes. After a final washing using distilled water the glass is washed with a weak solution of stannous chloride. While the action of the stannous chloride is not definitely known it is believed that it leaves very minute particles of tin adhering to the glass and that these small particles of tin serve as nuclei or seeds to promote the formation and dhe iQmQ ithesilv r-fil sthesi-lver:isp ecinitatedfromthe solutions. In the operation of. the. improved equipment the glass, as. soonasit has, been washed: with the dilute stannous chloride.

solution is placed on the conveyor lat the loading station 2.

evaporated ordrained from the glass since Wash; ing with the stannous chloride solution.

Within the spray booth 3' a plurality of spray, guns H) (s ealso Figure II) aresupportedfrom the, lower, ends of;ro dsl I depending: from a carriage, l2- that is mounted-on a track, [1 3 extending;

above, and. parallel; to the surface of the conveyor I and generally transverse thereto., The. track I3 is supported at-its; ends from the uprights: l4 erectedon eitherside of the conveyor l. Mechanism, such, as that shown in Patent-No. 2,246,502

isZ'used to drivethecarriage l2 backhand forth along thetrack [3. As shownv inthispatentthe mechanism c mp i es a pair; o sprockets one uniform speed throughout thegreaterportion of,

its. travel and; at; the ends of; its, travel; smoothly reversesas the; pin tra-vels around theouter halfcircleof the associated sprocket.

The solutionsto; be sprayed on the glassjsheets 6 are conveyed throughfiexihle hoses I connected to the; spray guns IO and to connecting blocks mounted: on the track; l3. Rigid piping may be used betweenthe connector blocks: and the tanks containing the sQlutions and, the compressed air supply.

Referring. to Figuresv IIIv and IV the pattern from eachofthespray guns I0 is preferably a thin fan such that when directed normal toa surfaceprovides-along, narrow, elliptical pattern. The gunsaremountedfrom a cross rod 16 sup-- ported at the lower ends of the rods H and are directed angularly toward the conveyor i in the direction of. travel of the conveyor. For optimum results the angle is made such that most of the particles of the sprayhave a velocity in the same direction as the movement of the conveyor, that is,- that one-fringe-ofthe pattern-one end of the long elliptical pattern-is located generallybe neath the; spray gun ll] while the ellipse points towardthose portions of the conveyor that have already passed beneath the spray gun.

A plurality of spray guns [0 are employed at leastone for each of the solutions being sprayed onto the glass. Thus a minimum of two spray guns is required one for the silver ammonium nitrate solution and the other for a reducing solution. If more than two guns are employed they may be used in pairs as illustrated in Figure IV or three of the'mmay be arranged sothat their patternsconverge upon a single area of the. glass.

Byarranging the patterns from the spray. guns so. thatthey-converge at or just above the surface of the glass very intimate thorough mixing of the; two; solutions is instantaneously secured as. This, thqmughi m xing. of. the. solutions. permits: vary:

the solutions areapplied to the glass.

rapidly acting reducing agents to be employed since the mixing of the solutions and their ap- For; best results the glasssurface-is, keptwetandfor; thispurpose a water spray tube 9.1s'providedto replace, whatever, water mayhave.

plicationi to; $1165 suriace; takes place}. Simitm'h ously; t; I 1

The tangle; of the spray. as shown: in. Figure-1 III? is; very important. in. that: it accomplishes: in. a. veryeffective manner twofunctions each= ofrwhich: is necessary forcommercially satisfactory operae tion of: equipment. First, anyqzvarticles:of: sprayed? material thatmayzrebound from the surfacemfi the glass either move; directly. toward the sprayguns. I Dior, asshownbyzthexdotted-r lines. I 1; move; in thedireetion ofmovementot' the conveyorso as toifall on those portions-of the glass thathave already-received their full quota ofsilveringsolu tion. This result is of peculiar advantage in' thatit reducesrto a minimumthe interval of time between the instant thatrthefirstparticles-ofspram strike; the glass and-i the time. when that portion of: theglass is completely: covered with a film of solution. By-reducing-thistimetoa-m-inimum-the efiect of sludge or: residue from the solution inter-fering with the even deposition 0% silver is. minimized: if not completely eliminated.

The second advantageresulting-f-rom the-angleatzwhich the'spray is directed against theglassom the conveyorl: is ,that-v the force of the spray always tends to drive-the residuefroman rm mediately previous. traverse of the spray toward thefinished areasi thus clearing away :theresidue topermit-successive layers of -solution to deposit their silver content.- directly on the glass or the previous film of silver; If this driving'actionis; absent'the-residue remainson the sprayed-surfaceand succeedingsprays must be given suflicient force to penetrate the residue or sludger'in orderthat the silver -may:be precipitated at the surface to-be: silvered. Since" only a fraction of the spray can be driventhrcugh such a sludge: afailure to remove it iswasteful;of 'materiali Therefore,- any arrangement-that tends-to drive-the sludge away from. the area being sprayed is. much more economical" of solution: as well asbeing conducive to the productiono-fl superior si-lve-red surfaces;

Solutions: that are suitabl'e forusein this:equip-- ment include silver ammonium nitrate as thesilver. bearing solution and glyoxalghydrazine. salts, or other organic compounds capable-of precipitating silver from the silver solutionf as the reducing-solution. These solutions, particularly those. mentioned, have the advantage that im-' purities tend: to rise: in. the sludge: and that: the

residue on product remaining after the silver is precipitated may be driven by the force ci -the spray guns without: leaving particles of impuritiesiembedded' the silvers-film.

If desiredcams-may be arranged on the track: l3 to cooperate-With a cam follower onfollowers on thecarriage l2: to-trigger the spray guns nearthe ends of its traver so that materialis sprayed only-onthat portion of theconveyor thatisactua11y= covered with glass. This-triggering of -the guns besides: saving:the-solution-that WOllldfOlih erwise be wasted at thesides of the-conveyoralso keeps: the gu-nsin goodgoperating order since the intermittent operation tendsto dislodge any particl'es thatmay: tend to clog the nozzles ortoad here to-=thesidesof the passages threugh the guns or:in-the-hose.- The point of triggering ofa gun may be made adjustable so that' an operator-by watching the conveyor may continuously adjust thewidth of the operatingarea to conformto the glass being processed;

After being sprayed the glass with its coatin pf' silver and sludge passes beneath a; pairofgenerally V-shaped washing nozzles ['8 that direct jets of wash water I9 diagonally toward the sides of the oncoming conveyor so that the Jets [9 sweep the sludge across the surface of the glass toward the edges thereof where it may drain to a collecting system installed beneath the washing station 4. This wash water while driven with sufficient force to move the residue of the material does not have sufllcient velocity to disturb the coating of silver deposited on the glass itself. In the arrangement of the tubes or pipes N3 the point of one V may be staggered transversely of the conveyor with respect to the other so that every portion of the conveyor surface as it passes through the washing station 4 is subjected to a thorough washing action.

After passing the washing station 4 the convey-' the edges thereof so that after the glass has passed the drying station 5 it is in condition to be painted with a copper bearing paint or other protective coating which serves to seal th silver and protect it against oxidation or other damage. After the paint or other coating has thoroughly dried the mirror is ready for mounting if it is to be used in ordinary locations. Mirrors that are used where corrosive atmospheres are present during some or all of the time may require a second or third coat of paint in order to adequately protect and seal the silver.

One source of difliculty that is often encountered when a spraying process is employed is that some of the sprayed material passing the edges of the sheets of glass finds it way back to the under surface of the glass where it leaves spots that must be subsequently removed. Since additional labor is required to remove these spots it is desirable if possible to prevent any of the material that passes the edges of the glass from reversing its direction of travel and lodging on the glass. To this end'the spraying station or spray booth 3 is provided with ventilating ducts 21 through which air is exhausted from the interior of the booth. This air is drawn through vertical risers 22 located atpoints around the periphery of the booth and which draw air from the region between the floor of the booth and the region near and slightly above the plane of the conveyor passing therethrough. By withdrawing air from this lower portion of the spray booth at a rate substantially greater than the supply of air through i the spray guns it is possible to prevent any reverse flow of air from the spray guns such as usually accompanies the expansion of the air as it issues from the nozzles of the guns and thus prevents any of the sprayed material from collecting on the under surface of the glass as it is carried along on the conveyor.

Portions of the conveyor belts are, of course, exposed to the spray when the glass is not loaded edge to edge. This ofiers no diificulty because the solutions deposited on such exposed areas of the conveyor belts have time to completely react with each other before the conveyor belt completes its journey along the conveyor length and is loaded with a fresh piece of glass. acted solutions are easily washed away and have no ingredients tending to adhere to the glass to cause trouble later.

The completely re- The same ventilating arrangement may be em'- ployed in subsequent painting station to prevent paint or other coating material from being deposited on the front face of the mirror.

The improved process and equipment for carrying out the process permit the production of high quality mirrors with a minimum of materials and very little labor. The only labor required in carrying out the process is that of washing the glass preparatory to silvering, loading the glass onto the conveyor, maintaining the proper quantities of solutions for supply to the spray guns, controlling the width on the conveyor covered by the spray from the spray guns, similarly supervisin the operation of the paint spray guns and finally unloading the conveyor as the processing operation is completed.

Various modifications may be made in the specific details of construction for preventing the contamination of fresh surfaces approaching the spraying stations and for disposing of over spray or spatter without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Application Serial No. 102,976, filed July 6, 1949, now Patent No. 2,581,957, is a division of this application and claims subject matter disclosed herein.

Having described the invention, I claim:

l. A process for producing a silver film on a solid surface comprising the steps of directing toward said surface, to intermingle at said surface, separate sprays of a silver containing solution and a reducing solution adapted to precipitate silver from the silver containing solution, traversing the sprays back and forth along a path parallel to said surface, continuously moving said surface relative to the sprays in a direction parallel to said surface and generally transverse to the back and forth motion of the sprays, so that the spray patterns of successive traverses overlap, the sprays being directed obliquely toward said surface in the direction of the continuous movement of said surface relative to the sprays, whereby the residue of spent spray solutions is driven onto previously sprayed portions of said surface by the force of the obliquely directed sprays.

2. A process according to claim 1 wherein the sprays are so directed that the spray pattern of one spray on the solid surface constantly coincides with the spray pattern of the other spray on said surface.

3. A process according to claim 1 wherein the sprays are so directed that substantially all of the spray pattern of each spray on the solid surface is restricted to an area of said surface that has passed a plane normal to said surface passing through the apex of the spray.

NORMAN B. JONES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Smith June 24, 1947 

